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Special Collections Manuscript Letters and Ephemera of Artists and Authors

 Collection
Identifier: MSS-363

Scope and Content Note

This artificial collection consists of 62 rare manuscripts, primarily in the form of letters, from the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Literary figures represented include Pre-Raphaelites, Victorians, Romantics, and many more. Notable authors include William Wordsworth, H. G. Wells, Robert Browning, Mark Twain and others. Supplementing writers are such esteemed artists as John William Waterhouse, Claude Monet, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Finally, culturally significant public figures appear, for example Booker T. Washington, John Ruskin, and Sir Richard Burton. These manuscripts provide insight into the cultural climate of their respective time periods.

Dates

  • Creation: 1650-1921

Access Restrictions

To view this collection, make an appointment at least five business days prior to your visit by contacting Ask an Archivist or calling (480) 965-4932. Appointments in the Wurzburger Reading Room at Hayden Library (rm. 138) on the Tempe campus are available Monday through Friday. Check the ASU Library Hours page for current availability.

Copyright

Arizona State University does not own copyright to this collection. Distinctive Collections recognizes that it is incumbent upon the researcher to procure permission to publish information from this collection from the owner of the copyright.

Historical Note

The Rare Books and Manuscripts research unit in the Department of Archives and Special Collections houses the Library's general collection of rare books and manuscripts and numerous special-interest collections centered around particular persons or topics of interest to scholars. By assembling an array of primary source materials and by conserving these materials under controlled conditions, Rare Books and Manuscripts contributes to the growing reputation of the Library and the University as top-ranked teaching and research organizations.

Full extent

1 Box(es)

Full extent

0.5 Linear Feet

Language of materials

English

Abstract

This artificial collection consists of 62 rare manuscripts, primarily in the form of letters, from the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Literary figures represented include Pre-Raphaelites, Victorians, Romantics, and many more. Notable authors include William Wordsworth, H. G. Wells, Robert Browning, Mark Twain and others. Supplementing writers are such esteemed artists as John William Waterhouse, Claude Monet, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Finally, culturally significant public figures appear, for example Booker T. Washington, John Ruskin, and Sir Richard Burton. These manuscripts provide insight into the cultural climate of their respective time periods.

Arrangement

This collection consists of a single box.

Provenance

This artificial collection was created by a former Special Collections Librarian. Some letters were originally tipped into books in the general library and SPEC stacks and were removed by conservators and added to the collection; others were initially part of the Uncatalogued Manuscript collection (UCM).

Related Material

These materials are part of a larger unprocessed collection of similar items (Accession #2019-05636).

Processing Note

Mollie Connelly selected these letters for inclusion in her Master's Thesis ASU Digital Repository Project titled Special Collections Manuscript Letters and Ephemera of Artists and Authors (1650-1921).

Genre / Form

Occupation

Title
Special Collections Manuscript Letters and Ephemera of Artists and Authors
Status
Completed
Author
Elizabeth Dunham
Date
2019 November 7
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository details

Part of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Repository

Contact

Arizona State University
P.O. Box 871006
Tempe AZ 85287-1006 United States
(480) 965-4932